What our women are “on fire” about!

by on November 25, 2012

Ahhhh…

Everyone is gone and I’m sitting in the quiet for a few minutes …and letting the fun of the weekend settle over me.


After Thanksgiving,  conversation continued with our family of close friends enjoying breakfast and each other’s company on Martha’s Vineyard. Clockwise from top: Ellen Wingard, Patricia Seeman, Lisa Arundale, Shannon McCaffery, Holly Getty, Robert Joerger, Rob Berkley and me! (Photo by Edward Beck)

I hope your holiday weekend was filled with love and connection. Mine sure was and I am deeply grateful for the “family” I am surrounded by even though none were my biological relatives.

I hope you, too, have in your life a circle of loved ones you can really count on and feel supported and uplifted by.

This week’s SPARK! is our monthly review of what our fabulous Women on Fire are up to. This is the place to share how you’re doing with your dreams; what is new in your life; or just an update for how things are going.

Congratulations to each one of you! It is thrilling to hear your news and to know how diligently you worked to get where you are:


Sarah Elizabeth with her mothers Connie Greer and Sue Dohner after their debut in BIO-HAZARD: A Relative Comedy in New York City.  (Photo by Holly Getty)

Sarah Elizabeth Greer of New York City launched her long-awaited, much anticipated play on Theater Row in New York City with a single performance and within days won the BEST COMEDY Award at the United Solo Festival!

Sarah writes:
“My goal was to write and perform a comedy about the hazard of being found by my biological mother, and call it BIO-HAZARD: A Relative Comedy — and then invite both of my mothers to join me onstage to help me perform it.

“So, I created a Kickstarter Campaign and with the generous help of our one and only dear Debbie and other incredible Women on Fire like the brilliant and hilarious Kacy Cook, who just happens to be one of the funniest women on the planet (and who also took a stab at editing one of the early incarnations of the play) — as well as the generosity of the extraordinarily talented Janina Sebesky and Regina Weichert, I raised $18,000 and entered my script into the International United Solo Festival, which is the largest solo festival in the world.

“There were several Women on Fire in the audience, all of whom I share such a deep connection.  My dear friend Linda Yellin (whose incredible sense of funny inspires me weekly) with her husband Randy Arthur, beautiful Holly Getty, Janina and Regina were all there to cheer us on!

“Five days later, I was informed that my play had won BEST COMEDY of the festival!”

Actress and best-selling author Christina Haag of New York City is starring in the film Half Brother, which begins shooting in December.

She is the author the beautifully written, New York Times’ best-selling book, Come To The Edge, a deeply touching memoir of her romantic relationship with the late John F. Kennedy, Jr.

You may have met Christina at a Women on Fire tea in New York. Or you may  recognize her from some of her guest starring roles on shows such as ER, Law and Order, Boston Public, Heroes, Providence, among others, and starring roles on the stage and in independent features.


Jordan Edelheit jumping for joy at her success of her TWO big dreams!

Jordan Edelheit of Columbus, Ohio attended the Women on Fire Day in Columbus last year along with 25 other Ohio State University students and a tea last Spring led by Jan Allen and was inspired to launch two dreams!

Jordan writes:
“There were two parts to my Women on Fire dream. One was my desire to work within the prison system and to help share the often untold stories of the incarcerated.

“The second was a road trip that I was planning on embarking on over the summer. The two following videos represent summaries of these very different dreams coming true!

“Here is the 90-second promo video of the TEDxMarionCorrectional event, an amazing compilation of footage from a single day’s event at the prison that was more powerful than almost anything else that I have attended.

“I was recently given the opportunity to talk about my project that I created this summer at TEDxYouth@Columbus. It turned out to be an experience that took place in seven weeks and in 8344 miles to seek out over 140 change-makers. Here is the link to my TEDx talk and my dreams coming true.”

Laurie Forster of Easton, Maryland will bring her comedy act to The City Winery in New York City on January 9, 2013.

And, you are invited!  Seats are limited and advance purchase is suggested. You also can view her videos here.

An original Woman on Fire and co-author of the Women on Fire book, Laurie is best known as The Wine Coach®. She said in a recent Women on Fire members’  interview that wine may be the vehicle but helping people to have fun in life is her real mission!

 

Beth Kloesener of Saginaw, Michigan will partner with Northwood University to provide career services for their adult degree and MBA students at campuses based in Michigan, Texas and Florida.

Laura Tiberi of Delaware, Ohio listened to her intuition about coming to the Women on Fire Retreat in Chicago and it was a good thing she stayed home!  Her grandson Parker Matthew was born on Oct. 28.

We missed you, Laura, but were glad you didn’t miss Parker’s birth! Congratulations to you and your family.

Dr. Robyn Silverman of Mount Freedom, New Jersey has been invited by Parenting Magazine to be a member of their 2013 “Dream Team” Expert Editorial Advisory Board.

An author, speaker, coach and educator, Dr. Robyn will be called upon by the magazine to share her expertise about parenting, child development, body image and character education.

She frequently discusses these issues as a guest expert on NBC’s Today Show.

  

Just in time for holiday gift-giving to the little ones in your family, Rosi Amador of Cambridge, Massachusetts and her family have narrated and composed music for two new bilingual children’s audiobooks.

Congratulations, everyone.  It is inspiring to see the dreams of women in our community coming true!

Wishing you a great week ahead and I hope you make progress on something important to you in your life this week.

I’m about to dive into a 21-day cleanse to end the year in even better shape than I began it.  I start it tomorrow with the talented, holistic health coach Amy Marzluff.

Wish me luck and feel free to comment on the Women on Fire success stories above or your own experience with a cleanse by commenting here!

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Nothing happens unless first a dream

by on June 25, 2012

I just arrived home from New York City where I celebrated with a number of you at a Women on Fire Tea and appeared on Janette Barber’s radio show on Sirius XM.

The trip was filled with many delicious surprises.
Women on Fire Tea in New York City on Friday — Front row: Lara Licharowicz, Jolie Solomon, Renee Schmidt; second row: Darlene Wade, Ann Graham, Janette Barber, Mary Ann Donatelli-Reilly, Holly Getty, Ellen Wingard, Debbie Phillips, Jenifer Madson, Kim Anderson, Sandra Carlson, Heike Vogel, Janina Sebesky and Muffy Vrana (Photos by Rob Berkley)

My birthday is June 25 so my husband came along to New York and treated me to an early birthday dinner with friends and a spa afternoon with Woman on Fire Holly Getty!

And, Woman on Fire Sarah Elizabeth Greer hosted an extraordinary brunch complete with a handsome bassist playing some of my favorite tunes.

So sliding into my actual birthday (a day I share with Woman on Fire Sandra Carlson!) I already feel very loved and blessed!


I love having the same birthday as Sandra Carlson of Washington, DC. Happy birthday to us on June 25! Do you share a birthday with anyone you know?

During my many discussions in New York, we talked a lot about going for our dreams.  And, one of you asked me: how do I even figure out my dreams?

Great question!

So before we talk about that today …

I want to welcome many of you who are here for the very first time.

Quite a few of you found us when you heard Janette Barber interviewing me on her radio show about the power of Women on Fire — women supporting and cheering each other to go for our dreams.


On the air with the fabulous Janette Barber, talking about the inspiration, strategies and support that make Women on Fire such an uplifting community!

As the American writer, editor and poet Carl Sandburg said: “Nothing happens unless first a dream.”

Fascinating to consider, isn’t it?

Here are some of the questions I’ve personally used and asked of many coaching clients over the years to help them figure out dreams worth pursuing.

Answer with as much candor as you can and this is also a good exercise to journal:

1) Who do you enjoy helping and what problems can you solve for them?

2) What wrong in the world do you want to make right?

3) When you were a child or teen-ager, what did you dream of doing?

4) What do people come to you for?

5) If money or making a living were not a consideration, what would you do with your precious life?

Your answers to one or more of these questions will give you clues to dreams you may want to follow. Your answers also can unearth long-held dreams that you’ve forgotten.

In my own life, my answer to Question #1 led me to my dream that eventually became Women on Fire!

The people I wanted to help were my women coaching clients.  Successful in many ways, they were often isolated and feeling alone in their struggles.

My dream was to connect them in a fun and inspiring way so they could have the experience of being surrounded and empowered by other women cheering on their successes.

It was started out with a handful of women at a tea party — and voila nearly a decade later we are more than 3,000 women strong!


Cheering each other on — here I am at last week’s tea party in New York City with Janina Sebesky, Mary Ann Donatelli-Reilly and Janette Barber — amazing, supportive Women on Fire.

Indeed, nothing happens unless first a dream!

May your life be filled with inspiring dreams and the inspiration, strategies and support to pursue them.

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Downsized 4 X

by on August 9, 2010

It’s Sunday.  And, I have a confession.

I haven’t gotten out of my jammies yet today. (Wearing my favorite ones that Woman on Fire Rosemary Nickel sent me from PajamaGram!)  Oh, does this feel good – and ever-so-slightly naughty;-)

Rob left before dawn today for Mara Glazer’s Social Media seminar in Baltimore.  Wilber and I are home alone.  And, because he lies around himself and naps all day, I think he loved having a pal to do nothing with.

I ate when I wanted; skipped making the bed and unloading the dishwasher; yakked on the phone to Shannon McCaffery and to my mom; read Rolling Stone and World Pulse magazines; brewed a pot of hazelnut coffee (which Rob doesn’t like because it makes our house all smelly); and even drank a diet Coke, which I rarely, rarely do anymore.

In short, a Heavenly day of nothingness and everything-I-love-ness.

Hope you get the same chance every once in a while. I’d love to hear on our blog what you do when you have time to do absolutely nothing!

Today’s SPARK! is a strategy for what to do when you are faced with a major transition.   I am borrowing from the wisdom of Women on Fire book co-author Shannon McCaffery.

You see Shannon was laid off from jobs in the corporate world FOUR times in nine years before she found her true passion and became an entrepreneur.

She is uniquely well-qualified to talk about what an upheaval it is to unexpectedly lose your job!  

(Although you may have a hint your job is on the line, it’s still a shock when it happens.  You need a strategy to work through the loss and regain your balance.  This holds true even if you didn’t like your job.)

The results from the recent Women on Fire survey revealed that a large number of you are going through a major transition and that many of you have experienced job loss, whether of your own choice or not.

When I was compiling the Women on Fire book, I invited Shannon to share her experience of repeated job loss. I was inspired to see how she coped through some very tough times and how well it all turned out for her.  She wrote an excellent, strategy-filled chapter called “Breaking Loose From Corporate America” – 7 Secrets To Being Let Go From Your Job.

In Shannon’s words, here are her seven secrets to surviving a major transition:

1)   Surround yourself with support – “This was a lifesaver for me: having a coach, therapist, friends, family and my dogs. It was incredibly helpful to know I wasn’t alone.”

2)   Tame your mind – “My mind was my worst enemy. I took up the practice of meditation and learned how to calm and quiet my mind.”

3)   Take yourself on vacation – “Taking myself to Peru and experiencing Machu Picchu with a group of spiritually inclined people was just what my workaholic soul needed to open up to my life.”

4)   Feel your fear; it’s OK – “I was so scared about not knowing how I was going to pull through. I faced my fear and created a mantra that I repeated 40-50 times a day: ‘I will find the perfect home and perfect job for me and my dogs by Nov. 1.’” (And, she did!)

5)   Reach out to experts – “I can’t say enough about having a coach, a therapist and any other specialist you need to see your way through a transition. Yet, it’s not enough just to have them in your life, but it’s about picking up the phone and asking them for help.”

6)   Indulge in self-soothing – “There are many things you can do to make yourself smile, laugh and feel good inside. From aromatherapy (candles, incense, soaps) to baths, body lotions, flowers and ice cream.”

7)   Comfort your body – “Your body keeps a lot (bound up) during major transitions and change. You need to take extra good care of it with rest, exercise and a massage…or two or three.”

Today Shannon is happy, healthy and successful in her life and work in her own business.  She’s gone from being down-sized to “right sized!”

As The Marketing Implementer, she helps other entrepreneurs successfully launch their products and services into the world.

For more details about Shannon’s experience, you can read her entire chapter in the Women on Fire book.  She also has an excellent, free monthly newsletter of marketing tips that I highly recommend.

Do you have your own experiences of going through a transition? Please share by going to the blog.

Well, that’s it for today.  I love having you here.

And, by the time you read this, I might…I’m just saying I might…have taken a shower.  On the other hand, Wilber hasn’t meowed a complaint.  So maybe I won’t:-)

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